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The Woman’s Touch, The Fragility of Opera

A few weeks back, I had the opportunity to record Alison Muir (mezzo-soprano from Toronto) at Grace-On-The-Hill Anglican Church in Forest Hill. We began early in the morning to ensure we could capture her repertoire in good timing. I set up my equipment, Alison got comfortable, her accompanist on standby. They begin the first piece, then we hear a loud repetitive noise from outside. There’s a construction worker outside jackhammering the street. I send a text to another recording engineer friend of mine, laying out the situation.

He responds: That’s where studios are handy.

I went outside to talk with the worker. He was pretty friendly, but was stayed in his resolve. He wasn’t going to stop until his lunch started, which was an hour an a half away. I went back into the church and let Alison and her accompanist in on the update. Then one of Alison’s female friends who was in attendance said: Let me talk to him.

She went outside. A minute later, the jackhammering stopped. She comes back into the church and says: You have 30 minutes.

What? Seriously?

That 30 minutes turned into an hour, which gave us just the right amount of time to record her pieces without the jackhammering on the track. Women have a way with construction workers . . .

Alison was at my studio to listen to what was recorded. She’s excited for her debut album to come out. Me too. Stay tuned!